The story of
Thanksgiving is basically the story of the Pilgrims and
their thankful community feast at Plymouth, Massachusetts.

The Pilgrims, who set sail from Plymouth, England on a ship
called the Mayflower on September 6, 1620, were fortune
hunters, bound for the resourceful 'New World'. The
Mayflower was a small ship crowded with men, women and
children, besides the sailors on board. Aboard were
passengers comprising the 'separatists', who called
themselves the "Saints", and others, whom the separatists
called the "Strangers".
After land was sighted in November following 66 days of a
lethal voyage, a meeting was held and an agreement of truce
was worked out. It was called the Mayflower Compact. The
agreement guaranteed equality among the members of the two
groups. They merged together to be recognized as the
"Pilgrims." They elected John Carver as their first
governor.

Although Pilgrims had first sighted the land off Cape Cod,
Massachusetts, they did not settle until they arrived at a
place called Plymouth. It was Captain John Smith who named
the place after the English port-city in 1614 and had
already settled there for over five years. And it was there
that the Pilgrims finally decided to settle. Plymouth
offered an excellent harbor and plenty of resources. The
local Indians were also non-hostile.

But their happiness was short-lived. Ill-equipped to face
the winter on this estranged place they were ravaged
thoroughly.

Somehow they were saved by a group of local Native Americans
who befriended them and helped them with food. Soon the
natives taught the settlers the technique to cultivate corn
and grow native vegetables, and store them for hard days. By
the next winter they had raised enough crops to keep them
alive. The winter came and passed by without much harm. The
settlers knew they had beaten the odds and it was time to
celebrate.

They celebrated it with a grand community feast wherein the
friendly native Americans were also invited. It was kind of
a harvest feast, the Pilgrims used to have in England. The
recipes entail "corn" (wheat, by the Pilgrims usage of the
word), Indian corn, barley, pumpkins and peas, "fowl"
(specially "waterfowl"), deer, fish. And yes, of course the
yummy wild turkey.

However, the third year was real bad when the corns got
damaged. Pilgrim Governor William Bradford ordered a day of
fasting and prayer, and rain happened to follow soon. To
celebrate November 29th of that year was proclaimed a day of
thanksgiving. This date is believed to be the real beginning
of the present Thanksgiving Day.

Though the Thanksgiving Day is presently celebrated on the
fourth Thursday of every November. This date was set by
President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939 (approved by
Congress in 1941). Earlier it was the last Thursday in
November as was designated by the former President Abraham
Lincoln. But sometimes the last Thursday would turn out to
be the fifth Thursday of the month. This falls too close to
the Christmas, leaving the businesses even less than a
month's time to cope up with the two big festivals. Hence
the change.